The Nation's Report Card: State Reading 2002, Report for Wyoming.

This report provides selected results from the 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for Wyoming's public-school students at grades 4 and 8. Since 1992, reading has been assessed in four different years at the state level (at grade 4 in 1992 and 1994, and at both grades 4 and 8 in 1998 and 2002). Wyoming participated in all of these assessments at grades 4 and 8 and met the criteria for reporting public-school results for both grades. Key findings for grade 4 are: the average scale score for students in Wyoming was 221, which was not found to differ significantly from that of 1992 (223) and was not found to differ significantly from that of 1998 (218); students' scale scores in Wyoming were higher than those in 17 jurisdictions, lower than those in 9 jurisdictions, and the difference was not found to be significant for 21 jurisdictions; and the percentage of students in Wyoming who performed at or above the "Proficient" level was 31%, which was not found to differ significantly from that of 1992 (33%) and was not found to differ significantly from that of 1998 (29%). Key findings for grade 8 are: the average scale score for students in Wyoming was 265, which was not found to differ significantly from that in 1998 (263); students' scale scores in Wyoming were higher than those in 19 jurisdictions, lower than those in 14 jurisdictions, and the difference was not found to be significant for 13 jurisdictions; and the percentage of students in Wyoming who performed at or above the "Proficient" level was 31%, which was not found to differ significantly from that in 1998 (31%). After an introduction, the report presents overall results, comparisons between states, reading performance by demographic characteristics, and it discusses moving toward a more inclusive NAEP, and where to find more information. (RS)